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The MotionTracker-collection

Plugins for automatic content-tracking

What can you do with the tracked points ?
All five MotionTracker-plugins take advantage of the same tracking-system. At first you have to track the wanted points. The tracked path(s) will be remembered by the plugin and will be automatically stored within your project. Just make sure that you save your project and all tracked information will be safe.

There are five things you can do with the tracked information:

MotionTracker Image Insertion
Insert a clip or image in your project.

MotionTracker Garbage Matte
Create a garbage matte.

MotionTracker Point Distortion
Distort certain parts of your project.

MotionTracker Image Stabilizer
Stabilize your clip.

MotionTracker Zoom
Zoom into the tracked area.



MotionTracker Insert Image
Use this tool to overlay an image (or clip) onto your project. The image will follow the selected content and will appear as if it always had been there.

After tracking the initial points, you now have to tell the plugin what it should do with the tracked information. To do this you have to go to Mode 5.

Lets take a closer look at the two special sections of the "Insert Image"-tool:

Clip/Image
Drag the clip or image you want to insert into your project here.

Blur
Use this setting to adjust the sharpness of the inserted image. If the inserted image is too clear relative to the original video, you can blur the image to make it look alike.

Saturation
If the image you want to apply has a different saturation than the clip in the timeline, you can use this slider to change the saturation of the inserted image.

Invert
Check this checkbox to invert the applied image.

Distort Method
Distort Amount
If you like you can distort the image that will be applied.

"Distort Method": "Random" will distort the image with a scattered noise. "Static" will add a static noise, as if you look through a heavily rippled glass.

"Distort Amount" controls the amount of the distortion.

Opacity
Use a setting below 100 to make the applied image transparent.

Composite Mode
With this popup-menu you can choose the desired composite-mode. This is most usefull if (for example) you rather want to apply a shadow than an image, or you want to create the impression of a virtual video-projection.

Opacity Source
With this slider you can control the visibility (transparency) of the original clip.


With the next section you can create a border around the tracked area.

These four self-explaining controls define the appearance of the border.

The bottom section contains the four points and their corresponding Scan-Range.

These controls have different functions depending on the currently selected mode. Please read the description of the five modes of MotionTracker for better understanding.



MotionTracker Garbage Matte
This tool creates an animated Garbage Matte.

After tracking the initial points, you now have to tell the plugin what it should do with the tracked information. To do this you have to go to Mode 5.

Mode 5 activates the controls of the "Garbage Matte"-tool:

These controls will modify the garbage matte.

Feather Matte
Here you can feather the matte.

Invert
Check this checkbox to invert the garbage matte.

Opacity
Use a setting below 100 to make the garbage matte transparent.


The next five controls with distort the content of the matte.

Blur
Use this slider to blur the image contained within the garbage matte.

Saturation
With this slider you can change the saturation of the image contained within the garbage matte.

Distort Method
Distort Amount
If you like you can distort the content of the matte.

"Distort Method": "Random" will distort the image with a scattered noise. "Static" will add a static noise, as if you look through a heavily rippled glass.

"Distort Amount" controls the amount of the distortion.


Opacity Source
This slider controls the opacity of the areas outside the garbage matte. A setting of 0 will make the area complete transparent.


With the next section you can create a border around the garbage matte.

These four self-explaining controls define the appearance of the border.


The garbage matte can carry up to 20 points.

Define how many points you like to use for the garbage matte with the "Use Points 1-"-popup-menu. At least 3 points are needed to create a matte. Please define how many points you like to use, before you tell the MotionTracker the initial positions of the points.



MotionTracker Image Stabilizer
Use this tool to stabilize your clip. Unlike the included image-stabilize-plugin of Final Cut Pro, this tool tracks the selected point even if the point swirls around the screen. You can choose between a "lock" onto the selected point or an automatic calculated "anti-shake" feature, which is similar to what we all know from cameras. Additionally you can zoom into the stabilized video.

After tracking the initial points, you now have to tell the plugin what it should do with the tracked information. To do this you have to go to Mode 5.

These are the controls of the "Image Stabilizer"-tool:

Method
There are two stabilize-modes:

"Lock on Point": The stabilizer keeps the selected (and tracked) point motionless. This mode can be used to focus on a specific area of the scene.

"Use Average over Time": The stabilizer will calculate a motion that counteracts with the movement of the camera. This function is very similar to the stabilizing-capabilities of several cameras. The tracked point will not stay where it was initially as described in the "Lock on Point" description. The movement of the point will be used to calculate the current motion of the camera. This gives the onlooker the impression of a "smoother ride". "Timeperiod (Frames)" will be used to average the camera movement. Longer timeperiods will make the movement smoother.

Background
As the Image Stabilizer counteracts with the movement of the camera and you don't zoom (scale) the clip, it is unavoidable that the border of the clip will come across the screen. Here you can define how the border should look like. You can either select a color of the border or make it transparent.

Scale
If you want to avoid that the border of the clip comes across the screen, you can scale the clip to keep the border off screen.

Use
Here you can choose which point should be used as the center to scale the point. Try all three methods to see which one you like best.

"Tracked Point": Use the point which was tracked by the MotionTracker.

"Below Center": Use the below defined center.

"Center of stabilized Clip": Use the center of the clip itself.

Offset
Additionally you can move the clip manually with this control.


The stabilizer only uses one point.



MotionTracker Point Distortion
This tool is made to distort certain parts of your project. Use it to make faces and number-plates unrecognizable or distort. Up to 10 points can be tracked simultaneously.

After tracking the initial points, you now have to tell the plugin what it should do with the tracked information. To do this you have to go to Mode 5.

These are the controls of the "Point Distortion"-tool:

The first three controls will modify the calculated matte.

Feather Matte
Here you can feather the matte.

Invert
Check this checkbox to invert the matte.

Opacity
Use a setting below 100 to make the matte transparent.


The next five controls with distort the content of the matte.

Blur
Use this slider to blur the image contained within the matte.

Saturation
With this slider you can change the saturation of the image contained within the matte.

Distort Method
Distort Amount
If you like you can distort the content of the matte.

"Distort Method": "Random" will distort the image with a scattered noise. "Static" will add a static noise, as if you look through a heavily rippled glass.

"Distort Amount" controls the amount of the distortion.


Opacity Source
This slider controls the opacity of the areas outside the matte. A setting of 0 will make the area complete transparent.


Up to 10 point can be distorted simultaneously.

Define how many points you like to distort with the "Use Points 1-"-popup-menu. Please define how many points you like to use, before you tell the MotionTracker the initial positions of the points.



MotionTracker Zoom
If you want to take a closer look at something specific of a shaky video, use can this plugin.

The four points represent the four corners of the area, which will be scaled up to fullscreen.



© chv-electronics, Christoph Vonrhein, Germany